Life and times of Jimmy Carter

Oct 1, 1924: James Earl Carter Jr. born in Plains, Georgia, to Earl Carter, businessman and peanut farmer, and registered nurse Bessie Lillian Gordy – deeply religious Southern Baptists

1946: Carter graduates from U.S. Naval Academy, and marries Eleanor Rosalynn Smith. Navy assigns Carter to work on submarines

1953: After death of his father Carter abandons career in new nuclear submarine programme to take control of family farm, successfully revitalising business

1962: After experience in local politics, wins election as Democrat senator for state of Georgia

1970: Becomes governor of Georgia at second attempt, and proceeds to work for end to segregation in state

1976: Runs for president as Washington outsider, with slogan “Trust Me”. Defeats Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who assumed presidency in 1974 when Richard Nixon resigned over Watergate scandal

Jan 20, 1977: Carter sworn in as 39th President of the United States. After inauguration, he is first president to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue from Capitol to White House
Initial popularity dissipates as he fails to persuade Americans to accept austerity measures amid high inflation, rising unemployment, oil shortages and slow economic growth of late 1970s

Sep 1978: High point of presidency occurs when Carter brings together Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Camp David Accords end 31-year state of war between Egypt and Israel

Jun 1979: Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sign SALT II agreement on nuclear arms non-proliferation, honoured by both sides until 1986

Nov 1979: Iranian students storm U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 66 Americans hostage.
Carter’s inability to negotiate release of hostages – worsened by badly botched rescue mission – becomes major political liability

Dec: Soviet forces invade Afghanistan. U.S. boycott of 1980 Moscow Olympics fails to win enough international support to get them cancelled

1980: Carter suffers crushing election defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan

Jan 20, 1981: Within minutes of Reagan’s inauguration, all 52 remaining U.S. hostages held in Iran are released

1982: Former president founds Carter Center in Georgia to foster peace and democracy, protect human rights and improve health care in developing nations

1984: Carters raise awareness of homelessness by helping to build houses for non-profit group Habitat for Humanity

1986: Carter Center spearheads efforts to eradicate Guinea worm disease, which affects over three million people in 21 countries, and tackle river blindness

1994: Carter is first former U.S. president to visit North Korea. He persuades leader Kim Il Sung to open discussions with South Korea and agree aid-for-disarmament deal

1999: Carter and Rosalynn both awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom – highest U.S.
civilian honour

May 2002: Becomes highest- ranking American official to visit Cuba since Fidel Castro seized power in 1959 revolution

Oct: Awarded Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to promote democracy, human rights and peaceful conflict resolution

2015-19: Carter treated for cancer in liver and brain. Subsequent health issues involve several falls that require medical intervention

Jan 2021: Carter denounces Capitol attack along with former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton

2023: Jimmy Carter ends medical treatment and enters hospice care at his Georgia home


Sources: Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, Whitehouse.gov 
Pictures: Carter Family Collection, The Carter Center, Getty Images, Naval History and Heritage Command 
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